In May 2018,
Ireland voted – by a landslide – to legalise abortion, the murder of the unborn
in their mothers’ wombs. How did it come to pass that a country which had been
one of the most Roman Catholic countries in the world came to vote so
overwhelmingly in favour of something contrary to official Roman Catholic
doctrine?

The reality is
that the Republic of Ireland is no longer the staunchly Papist country it was
until very recent times. This vote was the culmination of a phenomenally swift
and fundamental shift in Irish society during the last couple of decades. And
specifically, this shift has to do with the position of the formerly
all-powerful Roman Catholic “Church” in Ireland.

This astounding
change needs to be examined closely. The swing to an overwhelming support for
abortion is just the latest phase in the rejection, by so many Irish people, of
the religious institution which for so much of Ireland’s history dominated every
aspect of their lives.